???
So, because Vrabel and Harrison took a long time to develop, Ninkovich is a strong solid player and a starter? Sure it's possible that Nino is a star waiting to step up, or not.
Ninkovich did not take reps away from Thomas and Burgess last year. Both Thomas and Burgess played in over 50% of our defensive plays. At this point Ninkovich has shown no more than Woods (who gets knocked for no apparent reason here; he is a special teamer and a backup, and is fine in those roles). Ninkovich is also special teamer and backup passrusher.
Ninkovich is a reasonable player to ahve in the OLB/passrusher mix. Banta-Cain and Cunningham are making the team. The rest are competing for an undetermined number of roster spots.
Yes, I expect Ninkovich to make the team. I wouldn't be shocked if he didn't make the team. That would likely mean that Crable took his role. I also wouldn't be surprised to see him step up and play 50% of the defensive reps, replacing Thomas as far as reps.